Research Group Leader - Epidemiology, Clinical Trials and Health Services Research, University of Melbourne Department of Surgery, St. Vincent's Hospital (Melbourne).
BHealSci (Nursing) (Vic U); PG Dip Adv Clin Prac (Orthopaedics) (Vic U); Dip Frontline Management (Swinburne U); PhD (Melb U); PGradCert Appl Epi & Biostats (Curtin U); Grad Cert Clin Res Methods (Monash U); MEpi (Melb U).
A/Prof Michelle Dowsey is an NHMRC Career Development Fellow, Epidemiologist, Registered Nurse and Principal Research Fellow in the Department of Surgery at St. Vincent's where she leads the Epidemiology, Outcomes & Clinical Trials Orthopaedic Group.
Michelle has worked in musculoskeletal research since completing her PhD in December 2009, has published 100 scientific articles and 3 book chapters, and received over $14 million dollars in competitive grant funding. She is an emerging international leader in musculoskeletal and health services research with a specific focus on addressing surgical and patient related factors that impact on the efficiency, safety and durability of total joint replacement surgery for those with end-stage arthritis. She is currently a member of the Australian Orthopaedic Association, Associate Editor for Frontiers of Orthopaedic Surgery and member of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International Publications Committee.
Michelle's research consists of three interweaving programs that aim to develop scalable cost effective solutions to mitigate the rising and unsustainable health care costs arising from the surgical management of advanced osteoarthritis. Utilizing her unique skill set (clinician, epidemiologist, behavioural researcher, trialist) and position as a Chief Investigator on an NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Total Joint Replacement (OPUS), Michelle's research program; i) explores ways in which linking primary, secondary and tertiary care data can be used to develop clinical prediction tools, ii) uses mixed methods research to explore clinician and patient health behaviours and how this impacts decision making, and iii) develops and tests pathways for divesting low-value health care practices in advanced osteoarthritis management.
Michelle is the lead investigator and custodian of the St. Vincent's Melbourne Arthroplasty (SMART) Outcomes Registry. SMART is a clinical registry based at St. Vincent's Hospital that houses clinical and patient reported outcome data in more than 11,000 patients who have undergone lower limb arthroplasty. Over 100,000 patient pain, function and quality of life surveys are recorded in the Registry, which plays an important role in identifying novel and modifiable factors including bone and joint structural and surgical factors, that affect the outcomes of surgery. Through an NHMRC Partnership Project with the Australian Orthopaedic Association, Medibank, MSK Australia and St. Vincent's Health Australia, she is leading a nationwide study to integrate a multi-dimensional electronic surgeon feedback intervention into public and private orthopaedic settings, to improve uptake of evidence-based practice in the management of advanced knee osteoarthritis.